Sometimes it feels like York is completely isolated from the rest of the country, like the only people who care about the city’s music are the people who live here. And the names and nights that are so important to us are completely irrelevant in neighbouring counties.
Which is why it’s amazing to see local act Boss Caine getting some national recognition in the form of a live session on Bob Harris’s BBC Radio 2 Sunday show.
Daniel Lucas and his band of “Yorkshire Cowboys” – as dubbed by Bob himself – made the pilgrimage down to London following a successful guerilla Twitter campaign, in which the better members of Boss Caine’s followers Tweeted Bob demanding he listen to their music.
In the half hour meeting of minds they played three of their own tracks, discussed York’s music scene and how they have no real desire to sell a million records.
Whilst listening to it I was reminded of a quote from Dave Grohl about real musicians not queuing for six hours just to sing somebody else’s songs to a panel of people who have the power, and the desire, to crush you. Real musicians play hundreds of open mic nights, gig every week, write all of the time. Not because they want to be famous. But because they can’t imagine doing anything else.
A quote that stood out, from one of those afore mentioned Yorkshire Cowboys, was “York is small enough for everyone to know each other, but still big enough to have a scene…” There are so many open mic nights here worth getting yourself to. We’ve just started an open mic blog where you can find out what’s happening.
Daniel Lucas can be found running the open mic night at Dusk every Sunday and inevitably supporting some other acts around the city… So, to borrow one of Dan’s frequently used quotes, I’ll see you at the bar.